ICC officially opens new residential hall on Fulton campus

Itawamba Community College in Fulton officially opened its new residential facility, Magnolia Hall, with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning in Fulton. The 72,000-square-foot facility will house 246 ICC students.

ICC President Dr. Jay Allen has witnessed several milestones during his five years overseeing the college. In his comments on Thursday, he said few have been "as significant as this one."

"The opening of this innovative, student-friendly residence hall will provide state-of-the-art housing accommodations," Allen said.

Despite the additional housing space the new dorm provides, Allen said there are still more than 350 students on waiting lists for housing this fall. ICC's president said the demand shows expanding the community college's available housing wasn't a want, but a need. 

"This simply reinforces the dire need of this residence hall," Allen said.

In addition to the residence hall itself, the college added a well-lit path for students traveling to and from Sheffield Hall, another dorm located directly behind Magnolia Hall.

Gil Simmons, chairman of the ICC Board of Trustees, said the college has changed a lot since he attended as a student in 1954 and 1955.

"This facility will not only serve the students who are enrolled in 2022, but will serve countless other students in the years to come," Simmons said.

The three-story residence hall has customizable halls and wings for separated male and female occupancy, along with two efficiency apartments and one for the hall director.

"Not only will it provide modernized residential rooms and ample amounts of collaborative study space, but it also offers elevated security with this being a separated co-ed residential hall," Allen said. "This allows us the ability to customize each hall, each wing and each floor so it fits the needs of enrollment each semester."

Requirements for residence include a preferred ACT score of 24, maintaining a 3.0 GPA and active participation in ICC student involvement/leadership opportunities.

"Magnolia Hall has truly enhanced the curb appeal of the Fulton campus and will prove to be an asset to ICC, the city of Fulton and our service district as a whole," Allen said.

The opening comes less than two years after the college broke ground on the project in October 2020. The facility was designed by PryorMorrow Architects and constructed by WAR Construction, Inc., of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.